Governing Body

David is Chairman of the Governing Body of the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dún Laoghaire (IADT), first appointed in 2016 and a Non-Executive Director of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), also first appointed in 2016. He is a former Chairman of the Irish Charity, One in Four and Non-Executive Director of Ireland’s National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC).

David has worked in the asset and fund management industry across a range of roles, including Head of Research, Chief Investment Officer and fund manager. He currently works for Banca Mediolanum’s Irish Operations.

A Harvard Business School alumnus, David graduated from the General Management Program (GMP) and also holds the Harvard Business School Advanced Corporate Director Certificate. David also graduated from Imperial College London with an MBA with Merit and from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree.

David is a Chartered Director (UK), a Member of the Institute of Directors (Ireland) and a Certified Investment Fund Director (CIFD). He is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (UK) and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (UK).

David Smith was appointed President of IADT in 2020. He is the former Head of Faculty of Film, Art and Creative Technologies at IADT and has extensive experience in higher education and professional practice. David is principal of the widely acclaimed design studio Atelier and was Programme Chair and Senior Lecturer in Visual Communications Design at IADT until 2015.

Dr Eimear Cotter was appointed in 2017 as Director of the EPA initially with responsibility for the Office of Environmental Sustainability. She is currently Director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment. Eimear has a wide range of experience in environmental protection, climate change, sustainable energy and sustainability. She previously worked in the EPA and Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Eimear holds a BA (Mod) in chemistry from Trinity College Dublin, a PhD in atmospheric chemistry from Oxford University and an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is a 2019 Eisenhower Fellow.

Owen Laverty, is based in County Dublin, Ireland, and has been Head of Enterprise and Economics for DLR at Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, bringing experience from previous roles at Maynooth University, Axis Design Ltd. and Design Partners.

Owen Laverty holds a 1986-1990 B.Sc. Mech Eng in Mechanical Engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. With a robust skill set that includes Product Development, Business Strategy, Executive Coaching, Intellectual Property, Team Building and more, Owen Laverty contributes valuable insights to the industry

Professor Moore has worked as a Senior Manager in the further education sector having joined Ulster University in 1999. He has since been active in the development of the creative arts/industries policy in the University becoming Head of the School of Creative Arts and Technologies in 2008. He was awarded a personal chair in 2009 becoming Professor of Creative Technology at the Magee campus.

Bernadette Costello is a former Director of Internal Audit & Risk Management, University of Galway. Bernadette started her professional career as a trainee accountant with PwC, Dublin and has extensive expertise including corporate governance and related areas, risk management and both financial and management accounting.

Bernadette is an experienced Non-Executive Director currently serving as a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and Audit Risk Governance Committee (Chair), Oberstown Children Detention Campus and Audit and Risk Committee (Chair),Irish Management Institute and Audit and Risk Committee (Chair), Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board and Finance Committee and Galway Harbour Company and Audit & Risk Committee member.

Previously, Bernadette has served as member of the Council of Chartered Accountants Ireland and Audit Committee (Chair) and the Board of Accounting Technicians Ireland (Chair), Board and member of the Audit Committee of the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Bernadette is a Chartered Director, a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Higher Diploma in Education from University of Galway.

Anne is a UCD graduate holding a B.A. Degree in English & History and she also holds a Diploma in Women’s Studies accredited to Maynooth University. In September 2021, she started her Masters’ Degree in Gender Studies and plans to graduate in December 2023.

Anne has been a public representative for over twenty years, and was a member of Wicklow County Council representing the Bray Electoral Area from 2019 to 2024. She held the position of Cathaoirleach of the Bray Municipal District for the term 2020-2021. She is a former TD representing Wicklow from 2011 to 2016, and was Vice-Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality and a member of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee.

Anne is a member of the Kildare-Wicklow Education and Training Board and serves on the Board of Management of Coláiste Ráithín in Bray. She is currently the Chairperson of the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, and is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Open Door Day Care Centre. Anne lives in Bray with her husband and has three adult daughters.

Siobhán Lynch is the Director of Further Education and Training (FET) in Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) since 2021. As Director of FET, she is one of four Directors on the Senior Leadership Team. Siobhán oversees the delivery of FET programmes and services delivered by the FET Management Team and just over 1,000 FET staff across the county. In 2022, a total of 21,515 learners, or 29,451 beneficiaries participated in courses in DDLETB’s 40 FET centres, colleges and services. Almost 10,000 major, minor and special purpose QQI certificates were awarded to DDLETB learners in 2022.

Siobhán is a graduate of Technological University of Dublin, with a Bachelor of Business (Honours). Her specialisation was Management, and on graduation, Siobhán achieved first class honours and the Business Department Award of Excellence.

As someone who has worked in Further Education and Training for 20 years, Siobhán has seen first-hand the impact it has on learners, and the bridges to new possibilities that it creates for them and their families. Siobhán is passionate about the inclusion of disadvantaged learners, and keeping the learner at the heart of what DDLETB do.

Siobhán believes that this is an exciting time for FET in Ireland, with recognition from government and other stakeholders of the value of FET, and the impact it can have on economic and social development. Siobhán believes that the emerging Colleges of Further Education and Training will facilitate a more streamlined approach and she is leading the team in DDLETB to ensure that their College of FET will ensure an  inclusive learner experience, with simplified pathways and easier access for all. Siobhán believes that the policy vision for a more unified tertiary education and research system has encouraged engagement with colleagues in Higher Education (HE) Institutes, and her goal is to work collaboratively to ensure that this will result in new improved opportunities for learners, including joint initiatives and enhanced pathways for transfer and progression for learners, between FET and HE in the coming years.

Brian Mulligan holds a Bachelor of Engineering (1978), and a Master of Engineering Design (1993). Originally qualified as a Civil Engineer in 1978, Brian worked for a number of years in engineering design and research, specialising in mathematical modelling and simulation, before entering higher education in 1984. First as a lecturer and later as a manager with the Atlantic Technological University in Sligo (in current and former forms), Brian was an early innovator and evangelist in the use of technology in teaching, running “training for trainers” programmes in the mid-nineties, starting the long-running EdTech conference series in 2000, founding the Irish Learning Technology Association in 2002 and leading the development of the largest online distance learning operation in the state. Brian is passionate about innovation in higher education in Ireland and internationally, regularly presenting at conferences, training sessions and to the media on how technology can improve teaching and more recently on the strategic value of learning technologies.

Having retired formally from the role of Head of Online Learning Strategic Projects in the Atlantic Technological University in December 2022, Brian continues to pursue his passion for innovation in education through consultancy and advisory work (edfutures.ie) and through international pro-bono projects.

Brian is also involved in the arts in Sligo as a long-standing supporter of the Sligo Jazz Summer School, singer and double bass player with The Old Market Street Swing Band, and Charlie McGettigan’s band, Jargon.

Peter is a member of SIPTU and sits on their National Community Sector Committee. He is a graduate of the National College of Ireland (NCI) BA in Accountancy and Human Resources. Peter is a full time Community Worker with Southside Partnership DLR and is a Councillor on the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council since 2014. He is also a Board Member of the dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum.

Colm is Head of Specialist Factual Content at RTÉ and runs a slate of c. 70 hours of high-end, television and online documentary content for the national broadcaster annually. He joined RTÉ as a producer/director following a public competition in 1994. Colm worked previously in a variety of roles in the music industry and also as a freelance journalist.

Colm’s slate is among the more public-facing in the RTÉ Content division and covers diversity, education, sport and music documentary, history, natural history and wildlife. He is leading RTÉ’s coverage of the Decade of Centenaries, and manages an annual budget of c. €10-€15m. As part of his brief, Colm steers a variety of important third-party relationships; these are with other broadcasters, co-funders, and State agencies.

Colm is a member of the RTÉ Editorial Standards Board, a small in-house group that advises on risk and compliance on output on all platforms, and is one of the authors of RTÉ’s Journalism and Content Guidelines. He is a Trustee of the RTÉ Benevolent Society and served a four-year term [2011-2015] as Chair of the Board of Management at Rathfarnham Educate Together National School. Colm is a qualified hurling coach and currently works with the senior camogie section at his adopted club, Ballinteer Saint John’s.

Colm is an advocate for lifelong learning, and regularly addresses the film and television sector. In 2021, he graduated with a First Class Masters in Irish History under Prof. Paul Rouse in UCD; his area of academic interest is in the history of entertainment in independent Ireland.

Colm works on a regular basis with graduates of IADT, in a variety of different guises. He is a noted mentor, and has a considerable track record in the development of emerging talent, both in front and behind the lens. Colm is risk taker and a lateral thinker; his slate allows him to balance the expectations of a national broadcaster – impact audience and political reaction, talkability – with what is often considered as an outlying editorial approach.

To this end, Colm is in synch with the ethos and values of the Institute. Colm believes in the power and potential of fresh and dynamic thinking, and he looks forward to working in a collaborative and a cohesive manner with colleagues for the duration of his term on the IADT Governing Body.

Ruth Barry joined the Institute of Art, Design + Technology as Marketing Manager in 2017.

She has over twenty-five years’ experience working in marketing roles within the telecommunications and corporate sectors in Ireland including 15 years in senior management positions with Vodafone Ireland.

Ruth has a proven track record of delivering innovative marketing campaigns, strategic communications and critical thinking within these roles. She enjoys an environment that is innovative, creative and collaborative.

Working within the Higher Education sector has given her great insights into the education landscape in Ireland.  Ruth is married with 2 teenage children and lives in Dún Laoghaire.

Turlough is a Technical Officer in the Information Technology Department in IADT. He is the National Equalities Officer for Unite the Union in the TU/IoT branch, and the local IADT technical representative. Turlough has been member of IADT Energy (Green) Team throughout its lifespan.

Turlough’s external achievements/interests include: Campaigner for the Together4Yes referendum campaign, and an organiser of its second largest fundraising event a (5k running race). He is avid mountain runner representing and managing Ireland at senior level and he currently represents Ireland at Masters (Over 50s) level.

Cormac Deane (PhD, London) is a historian of media and film whose publications have appeared in New Formations, Nature Nanotechnology, Culture Machine, The Journal of Sonic Studies, New Review of Film and Television Studies, and Science, Technology & Human Values, as well as in edited collections on Bernard Stiegler, film genre, and global television. In 2016, Columbia University Press published his translation from French of Impersonal Enunciation, the final work of the seminal film theorist, Christian Metz.

Cormac is currently preparing a book-length media archaeology of the control room. He is commissioning editor for Dublin Review of Books, and he has been the monthly film and television columnist for Village Magazine, producer of the Field Day Podcast, and news journalist at a Berlin television station for five years. Cormac is lecturer in New Media and Cultural Studies at IADT.

Dr Gráinne Kirwan (she/her) is a Lecturer in Psychology at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. She joined the IADT in September 2004 and has primarily worked on the BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology and the MSc in Cyberpsychology, although she has also supervised Masters by Research students and co-supervised PhD students with the University of Wolverhampton, as well as assessing PhD students in Dublin City University and the University of Bournemouth.

She is a former programme chair on the MSc in Cyberpsychology and is the current programme co-chair on the BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology. She is also the current chair of the Psychology Ethics Committee.

She previously spent a year as an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Higher Education Learning Philosophy University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while on career break from IADT.

Her research and teaching interests focus mainly on forensic psychology and cyberpsychology. Her publications include being a co-author/co-editor on five academic books (including a second edition of An Introduction to Cyberpsychology which is due to be published by Routledge in January 2024). She has published over thirty book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as numerous articles in professional magazines and conference presentations/papers.

Gráinne is currently a member of the Council of the Psychological Society of Ireland and was one of the members of the first CORU Psychologists Registration Board. As part of her outreach work Grainne provides guest talks for schools on internet safety. She has also been an invited guest speaker for a number of universities and external organisations, including those organised and/or hosted by University College Dublin, Credit Suisse, NATO Innovation Hub, Norfolk State University, the United Nations Vienna International Centre, Maynooth University, and the ASEAN Regional Union of Psychological Societies.

Eva Perez is a lecturer in Digital Marketing and Programme Chair for the BA (Hons) in Digital Marketing. Eva’s main areas of expertise lies in the changing digital landscape and the latest digital tools and techniques, including social media. Eva is currently pursuing her Ph.D. studies in Trinity College Dublin. Her Ph.D. work focuses on the adoption challenges of social media as a teaching and learning tool by academics within higher education. She is also a researcher of the Trinity Centre for Digital Business, which aims at investigating how digital technology is transforming businesses.

Lavender Jane Gartlan (She/They) is the President of IADT’s Students’ Union 2024/2025. Lavender Jane is studying Design for Stage and Screen: Character Makeup Design and is currently in her final year. Lavender Jane is a makeup artist and decided to go to IADT to learn more about special effects makeup in film, and to have a degree in a career they are passionate about.

In 2023 year Lavender Jane was the president of the LGBT+ society on campus, QSA, and with that role has learned a lot about the queer students in IADT. Lavender Jane advocated for students to the SU, helped with events run by the SU and brought awareness to Trans issues and facilitated in supporting trans students on campus. Lavender Jane has carried out volunteer work and advocacy work for many years and in college wished to continue that for the LGBT community as a trans queer student.

Lavender Jane is on her second term of office on the IADT Governing Body.

Diana Moldovean (she/her) is the Education Officer of the IADT Students’ Union 2024/2025, and is on her first term of office on the IADT Governing Body.

Simone James (she/her) is the Welfare & Equality Officer of the IADT Students’ Union 2024/2025 and is on their first term of office on the IADT Governing Body.

Intro & Membership

The Governing Body of IADT has established an Audit & Risk Committee in accordance with the Code of Governance of Institutes of Technology 2018, reflecting the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016. The Committee has oversight of and monitors the Institute’s internal controls, risk management and audit matters. The Audit & Risk Committee also ensures that the Institute’s financial reporting and disclosures are compliant with statutory and other requirements. The Audit & Risk Committee provides an independent and objective review to the Governing Body of the financial reporting process, internal controls and the audit functions of the Institute. Its role is advisory rather than supervisory in nature.

The Membership of the IADT Audit & Risk Committee is as follows:

• Bernadette Costello (Chairperson) – External Governing Body Member
• Dr Eimear Cotter – External Governing Body Member
• Sam Dunwoody – External Member
• Prof. Paul Moore – External Governing Body Member
• Colm O’Callaghan – External Governing  Body Member

Audit & Risk Terms of Reference

Audit & Risk Committee Minutes

Intro & Membership

The Governing Body of IADT has established an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee to assist the Governing Body in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities and providing leadership and accountability for equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the Institute’s activities. The purpose of the committee is to assist and advise the Governing Body in the performance of its functions by providing governance and oversight which will achieved by reviewing reports and assurances received from the President and the Institute Executive Management Team. The committee will also provide guidance and direction on policy matters associated the achievement of EDI objectives across the Institute.

The Membership of the IADT EDI Committee is as follows:

• Anne Ferris (Chairperson) – External Governing Body Member
• Lola Gaetano – Student Member
• Lavender Jane Gartlan – Student Governing Body Member
• Simone James (ex officio) – Students’ Union Member
• Sandra King – Independent External Member
• Dr Daithí Mac Síthigh – Staff Member
• Claire McGing (ex officio) – EDI Manager
• Alice Morrissey – Staff Member
• Brian Mulligan – External Governing Body Member
• David Smith (ex officio) – President
• Anne Wright – Staff Member

EDI Terms of Reference

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at IADT

Intro & Membership

The Governing Body has established a Governing Body Nominations Committee as a Committee of the Governing Body, in accordance with the procedures approved by the Governing Body and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for the recruitment and selection of Governing Body Members, and to recommend to the Governing Body the names of Appointees.

The Membership of the IADT Governing Body Nominations Committee is as follows:

• David Holohan (Chairperson) – Governing Body Chairperson and External Governing Body Member
• Bernadette Costello – External Governing Body Member
• Anne Ferris – External Governing Body Member
• Owen Laverty – External Governing Body Member
• Cllr. Peter O’Brien – External Governing Body Member

IADT Governing Body Nominations Committee Terms of Reference

Human Resources at IADT